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McLuhan: > With the telegraph Western man began a process of putting his nerves outside his body. Previous technologies had been extensions of physical organs:
by mbrock 11y ago
McLuhan:
> With the telegraph Western man began a process of putting his nerves outside his body. Previous technologies had been extensions of physical organs: the wheel is a putting-outside-ourselves of the feet; the city wall is a collective outering of the skin. But electronic media are, instead, extensions of the central nervous system, an inclusive and simultaneous field. Since the telegraph we have extended the brains and nerves of man around the globe. As a result, the electronic age endures a total uneasiness, as of a man wearing his skull inside and his brain outside. We have become peculiarly vulnerable. The year of the establishment of the commercial telegraph in America, 1844, was also the year Kierkegaard published The Concept of Dread.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- drdeca 11y agoIs "the concept of dread" the same work as "the concept of anxiety" with a different translation of the title, or are they different works?
- mbrock 11y agoYeah, different translations. The Danish is "angest" or "angst." As a native Swedish speaker, I find the common identification of "anxiety" and "ångest" a little strange, because of the strong existential connotations of the latter word... But it's interesting how McLuhan insinuates a connection between angst in the existential sense and this spatial displacement of the nervous system. By the way, the quote is from his essay "The Agenbite of Outwit". http://projects.chass.utoronto.ca/mcluhan-studies/v1_iss2/1_2art6.htm http://projects.chass.utoronto.ca/mcluhan-studies/v1_iss2/1_...